Even though we haven’t seen much evidence, the tech world seems pretty convinced that the new iPhone will be LTE-capable. After all, Apple’s latest tablet supports the 4G tech. And Android devices have for years.

But as it turns out, folks may not end up caring that much about whether the new iPhone supports LTE or not. A new report is out this morning, claiming that nearly 50% of US consumers don’t feel that they need it…

The study comes courtesy of Piper Jaffray. The investment firm polled 3,000 individuals on the topic of LTE, and analyst Christphoer M. Larsen shared the results in a recent note to investors obtained by AppleInsider.

“The survey found that 47 percent of consumers feel they don’t need 4G LTE, and another 26 percent indicated that they feel all 4G network technologies are the same. Just 15 percent of those polled said that 4G LTE is the best network technology.”

Obviously, the results from this survey are far from scientific. But they do provide some nice insight. And it’s not the least bit surprising that the average consumer doesn’t know or care much about 4G technology.

To be fair, carriers haven’t exactly been doing their part to help educate customers on 4G tech. Both T-Mobile and AT&T call their networks “4G,” putting it in the same category as Verizon’s LTE, despite their massive differences. In fact, AT&T has been trying to convince its subscribers that its iPhone 4S is 4G.

Nevertheless, we’re fully expecting Apple’s new smartphone to be LTE-capable. But whether it’s going to work with these networks outside of the US and Canada or not, is still a complete mystery.

How do you feel about the new iPhone having LTE? Will it be a deal-breaker if it doesn’t?